Curvy Valentine Match

In New Orleans there had been a few families collecting money for kids they hadn’t seen in months, sometimes years. It was an alternative theory, neither of which could be confirmed without that damn report, and I turned my attention to the other missing person, Kyle Jacobs.

Looking at his background, a few police interactions for things teenage boys got up to in a small town, public drinking, loitering, vandalism and making out in the backseat of cars, I realized that Lonnie and Kyle could have been me and Mara. Hopefully with a better ending.

This was just the paperwork, though, and any good cop knew there was always more to the story than was contained in the report. “Tara, you got a minute?”

The sound of her sigh, followed by the footfalls of the boots she preferred sounded as she made her way from what passed for our bullpen to my office. “What’s up, Boss?”

I grinned and shook my head. “You call me Boss all day long and then you tell me to go screw myself at The Mayflower?”

Tara shrugged as she took the seat across from me. “You’re not my boss at The Mayflower, you’re someone lining up to get your butt whipped in pool.”

“Fair enough. What do you know about Kyle and Lonnie?”

Tara’s eyes widened at the question and she stifled her questions, at least for the moment. “Lonnie is young and beautiful and too smart for her own good. She’s had a rough time of it with multiple foster homes in the area. Kyle is a rich kid who usually gets what he wants, and he’s totally smitten with her. With her smarts and his recklessness, it’s a recipe for disaster.”

I pulled up Kyle’s record and frowned. “I don’t see any signs of recklessness.”

Tara arched her brows and sat back in her seat. “In a small town where he has rich and influential parents?” She snorted and shook her head. “His teachers give him a break for ‘coming from a good home’, while Lonnie gets painted with the opposite brush. They treat his bad behavior like it’s a one-off, every time, and hers like a permanent character flaw. And law enforcement, well you went to his parents to get the missing person’s report, so…,” she shrugged and let the end of the sentence die out, but I knew what she was thinking.

The same thing Mara had accused me of, special treatment. I nodded as I absorbed her words and gave my own actions a second thought. “And why isn’t Kyle on our list of kids to watch out for?”

“He was, but Barb insists he’s a good boy just ‘doing what boys do’ and she removes him before it lands on your desk.” Tara shrugged as if she was resigned to this fact, only she wasn’t as emotional about it as Mara. “And if his actions don’t rise to the level of a crime, it’s not really our business is it?”

“No.” It was just the way things were, like Mara had said, whether I liked it or not.

“So,” Tara leaned in, chin resting in her cradled hands with a wide smile on her face. “How are things going with you and Mara? And don’t bother lying, because I know things. I see things. I’m a detective now, you know.”

I shrugged and leaned back in my seat. “She hates me less than she did last week, so that’s a bonus. But it can also change at anytime.”

Tara threw her head back and laughed with her whole body. “Keep at it, Xander. Mara is a damn tough nut to crack, but if anyone can crack that tough outer shell, it’s the most charming man in town.”

“Most charming? I can’t wait to tell Chris you think so.”

She laughed again. “My man may not possess all the charm you have, but he’s got other talents.”

“No thanks. Not interested in hearing about any of it. Thanks for your help.”

Tara stood and laughed again. “Does that mean I’m dismissed?”

“If you want to talk about your sex life, it absolutely does.” I made a shooing motion and Tara held her hands up as she backed out of my office. I relaxed into my chair when I was alone again, with nothing but my thoughts, which mostly centered around the accusations Mara had flung at me.

Tara ducked back into my office. “For future reference, I’m always up to hear details of the non-sex part of your love life.” She disappeared before I could think of anything to say that might change her mind.

Changing a woman’s mind was a particular skill of mine, some might call it a talent, but when it came to Mara I kept striking out. Our past was a huge part of it, but I had a feeling that my career choice was just another obstacle. She didn’t trust me and she didn’t trust cops, which didn’t bode well for me. Or for us.